Sakura Mizrahi
Sakura Mizrahi is the mentally disabled deceased daughter of Juli and Joachim Mizrahi. Sakura was also the model for MOMO Mizrahi, who was created to act as a link between Sakura's mind and the world so that Sakura could communicate. Other Realians, like the 99-Series Kirschwassers and the Durandal's 100-Series have been partially modeled off of her as well. Biography At a very young age, Sakura came down with a disease that shut down her central nervous system. A congenital brain defect, it was described as "Hypersensitivity to the synchronicity of the U.M.N." and implies that somehow her mind had connected to the mysteriously mentioned Upper Domain, which manifested as a sort of autism which prevented her from interacting with others, though she appeared to be capable of basic motor functions and was still able to perceive the outside world. Sakura was mute and unable to speak. The neural pathways that recognize the outside world and allow her to express herself were completely severed. Her electric potential pulse control was determined to be unstable, but neither medicine nor nanomachine-based Glilial supplements had any effect. Even restoring her membrane electrical potential didn't do anything. It is possible Sakura's disability was the result of Joachim being one of the People of the Zohar. Sakura was sent to the Yuriev Institute on planet Zavarov to undergo some special tests and treatment and hopefully cure her illness. During these tests, Dmitri Yuriev's U.R.T.V units dived into Sakura's subconscious domain in order to clear the U.M.N. and U-DO pulses that seemed to resonate within her mind, in hopes of repairing her sensory impairment. Dmitri Yuriev believed that contact with the anti-U-DO waveforms within the U.R.T.V.s would be beneficial for her. The boys made a mistake with their coordinates and ended up materializing in her closet. After breaking down the closet door because Albedo became frightened of the dark, the three stumbled into her bedroom and woke Sakura, a projection of inner self that could respond to them and talk. When Rubedo tried to push his brothers back into the closet so they could leave and reenter her consciousness correctly, she spoke, surprising the trio and herself as they could hear her voice, and began to cry of joy. She and the boys talked for a short while, and she told Rubedo to tell her mother, who could not dive into her daughter's consciousness, that she loved her, and the boys left. Rubedo described Sakura as a "carefree tomboy" to Juli. It was during these tests that Sakura fell in love with him. Sakura is one of Rubedo's deepest personal connections. Rubedo promised Sakura that he would take care of MOMO for her. Unfortunately, Albedo began to despise and hate Sakura because he perceived that she was stealing his brother away from him. Death According to Xenosaga I & II, during the Miltian Conflict, Sakura died by sacrificing herself to save Albedo, from what is yet unclear, possibly U-DO or an infected U.R.T.V. by U-DO. The incident happened when no one else was around. This slightly contradicts a datalog in Episode III, which claims "An experiment at the Yuriev Institute resulted in the death of Joachim Mizrahi's daughter." which is vague and makes it seem like a freak accident, but it could still fit if Sakura died while saving Albedo during an experiment. Albedo told Rubedo that he killed Sakura himself in the hope that he would become emotionally unstable enough to use the Red Dragon Mode and in turn kill him, but this is likely a lie or half-truth. It should also be noted that the games contradict a translation of Episode 1 ODM Guide which states that Sakura suicided in both MOMO's and Juli Mizrahi's sections of the book. * Page 043: "This is because before MOMO was finished, Sakura suicided before Juli's eyes." * Page 045: "Later, when her daughter suicided before her very eyes, Juli acutely felt her own powerlessness." It is unknown why this was changed between Episodes. It is possible that this is a bad translation, and that "sacrificed herself" instead of "killed herself" was intention. It is possible that the ODM didn't want to spoil further plot points (i.e. Sakura sacrificing her life for Albedo). However, there are still no mentions in the games of Juli being a "witness" to Sakura's death. Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse Flashbacks and memories of Sakura occur repeatedly in Episode II. Prior to Jr. confronting Albedo Piazzolla, his formerly conjoined twin brother, Albedo creates a flashback which features Sakura being abused by a young Albedo. The following surge of anger triggers Jr.'s "Red Dragon Mode" and initiates a personal battle between the two U.R.T.V. units. Just before Jr. almost unleashes Red Dragon mode, "Sakura" appears and comforts him, preventing his power from being unleashed. After Jr. kills Albedo, he becomes confused and upset and weeps. A vision of Sakura appears and asks Jr. what's wrong and he replies he can't feel Albedo's heartbeat and he's no longer himself. Jr. tells "Sakura" to go away, and Sakura asks him if he's really that weak and that he's not the Rubedo she remembers. She implores Rubedo to stand up and that there are people waiting for him, and he can't let them down now and asks Rubedo if he can remember the promise he made to her. Sakura's image is briefly replaced with MOMO, and MOMO's voice begs Jr. to please come back. Jr. realizes Sakura is right and he promised to protect Sakura's younger sister, and that despite he couldn't protect his younger brother, there are people he cares about who he can still protect. Sakura says that he the Rubedo who she loves and Jr. thanks him. He falls into Sakura's arms and Sakura's image is replaced by chaos. It is possible that this incarnation of Sakura was an illusion created by chaos to assist Jr., but whether or not this is truly Sakura speaking is left ambiguous. Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra Sakura is mentioned a few times in the game. Etymology Sakura is a reference to a flower called the "cherry blossom", which is called "sakura" in Japanese. Furthermore, the series of Realians that were originally based on Sakura's form and used to create MOMO are known as "Kirschwassers". 'Kirschwasser' is a German word for cherry brandy (Literally, "cherry water"). Her last name is an allusion to the Mizrahi Jews. In Xenosaga Episode I, MOMO seems to have been designed as an homage to the magical girl genre. Since Episode I and Episode II were originally intended to be one game, Sakura's name may be a reference to Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura. Theme * Sakura's Theme (Piano Version) * Sakura's Theme (Simple Vocal Version) * Inside ～ Sakura #3 * Sakura's Theme #4 (Gentle Strings Version) Quotes * "Ah, you guys... Wait! You guys... You can hear why I'm saying? I'm... I'm so happy you came." * "I hear my dad is researching treatment for me, too. He's making a Realian that's a lot like a human, and he's gonna make it so my senses are always linked up with it. That way, I won't have to make my mom sad anymore." * "Don't say that. You're not a weapon. You're a wonderful boy." * "Hey, Rubedo. I have a favor to ask of you. My little sister is gonna be born soon. She's kind of different from a normal sister, I mean, my mom won't be giving birth to her, but... My mother and sister... I want you to look after them for me, okay?" * "Were you really that weak, Rubedo? That's not the Rubedo I know. Get up, Rubedo. There are people waiting for you. Don't let them down now. Remember... remember the promise that you made me?" * "That's right, Rubedo. That's the Rubedo that... that I love." Gallery Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse Sak.png|Sakura meets the U.R.T.V.s Sakura.png|Sakura meets the U.R.T.V.s SakCry.png|Sakura cries of joy. SakJr.png|Sakura and Rubedo. RubedoSakuraKiss.jpg|Sakura kisses Rubedo. SakuraEn.png|Sakura in the Encephalon. MOMOT1.gif|Sakura in the Encephalon. Vlcsnap-2011-05-05-18h14m53s109.png|Albedo beating up an illusion of Sakura. DontBeAfraidRubedo.gif|"Rubedo, don't be afraid. I believe in you." MOMOT2.gif|MOMO transforms into Sakura. SakuraVision.gif|"That's the Rubedo that... that I love." JrSakurachaos.gif|Jr. collapsing into Sakura/chaos. Miscellaneous SakuraCat.png|Sakura with a cat in Xenosaga Freaks. RuSa.png|Sakura and Rubedo in the anime. Kiss.png|Sakura kisses Rubedo. Arty2.jpg|Rubedo and Sakura. Arty3.jpeg|Jr., MOMO and Sakura. Mizrahi, Sakura Category:Episode II characters Category:Female characters Category:Deceased